Avalanche in Gulmarg kills one Russian skier Gulmarg: A Russian skier on Thursday was killed when an avalanche hit Gulmarg. Seven others including the local guide were rescued, police said. The skiers had gone to a non-ski zone in the Khilanmarg area where an avalanche warning was out. It struck at 2 pm trapping all skiers under its debris, following which they were rescued | ANI tiruchy l friday l february 23, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Stir gets bigger as SKM steps in Tractor marches to be held on highways on Monday, Mahapanchayat in Delhi on March 14 New headache for Centre HAR P REE T BA J WA @ Chandigarh THE Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of farmer unions that spearheaded the 2020-2021 agitation against the three contentious Central farm laws that have since been repealed, on Thursday decided to put its weight behind the ongoing protests by Punjab farmers. After its meeting in Chandigarh to discuss the situation at the Shambhu and Khanauri points on the Punjab-Haryana border, where a protester was killed during clashes with police on Thursday the SKM lead, ers announced a series of protests across the country starting Friday. Leaders from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal also participated in the meeting, which formed a six-member panel to chalk out e x p r e ss r e a d HC: Sexual harassment a blight on Kalakshetra Chennai: The Madras High Court has termed the failure of the Kalakshetra Foundation to address the sexual harassment allegations raised by students as a blight on the institution. The report of the committee headed by retired judge Justice Kannan is graphic in regard to the nature of the alleged sexual harassment, the court said. Justice Anita Sumanth made the observation while passing orders on a batch of petitions related to the sexual harassment of students. | P2 A ‘Nihang’ Sikh stands near police barricades at the Shambhu border on Thursday | PTI SKM is not part of the Dilli Chalo march, which is spearheaded by a the breakaway ‘non-political’ group, and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha. SKM’s list of demands is also much bigger, which includes India’s withdrawal from WTO. SKM’s entry could make matters complicated for the Centre, which was till now negotiating with those leading Dilli Chalo march a bigger, united protest strategy to put pressure on the Centre. The panel includes Balbir Singh Rajewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan and Darshan Pal. “To ensure that far mers come together to get their rights, a six-member coordination committee has been formed,” said Rajewal. He and SKM leader Rakesh Tikait said Haryana’s CM Shah, Haryana CM Khattar and home minister Vij. The nationwide protest plans include tractor marches on highways on February 26. Also on the cards is a Mahapanchayat on March 14 at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. SKM leaders claimed the tractors will ply on one side of the highways so as not to disturb traffic. Manohar Lal Khattar, home minister Anil Vij, and police officials be booked for the killing of the 21-year-old farmer. They also demanded judicial inquiry into the incident and `1 crore compensation for the deceased farmer’s family . On Friday, which will be observed as a ‘black day’, the protesters will burn the effigies of Union Home Minister Amit Cong-AAP to tie up for Delhi p r e e t h a n a i r @ New Delhi After stitching an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in UP the Congress reached a , seat-sharing deal with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi. Of the seven seats in Delhi, AAP would contest four and the Congress three. Both parties agreed to share seats in Gujarat, Goa, Chandigarh and Haryana as well. Their joint statement is expected on Friday . Though seat-sharing talks have been through ups and downs, a Congress leader said the situation changed after the intervention of the party’s top leadership on Wednesday . According to the latest formula, the Congress may contest from East Delhi, Chandni Chowk and North East Delhi while AAP may enter the fray from New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi, and North West Delhi. While the state units of both parties have been resistant to the idea of an alliance, it was learnt that the Congress top brass asked its local leaders to have a ‘realistic view’ of the situation. All seven seats in Delhi are currently with the BJP. In terms of vote share, the Congress came second in five seats and AAP second in two during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. On Thursday AAP minister Atishi , Singh said that “the talks are on”. sunshine idea: Tn targets 25L solar-powered houses in a yr S G U R U VAN M I K ANAT HAN @ Chennai After the union govt unveiled its plan to enrol one crore domestic power consumers under the new rooftop solar scheme, the state power utility Tanged, co, has set an ambitious target to enrol 25 lakh consumers in Tamil Nadu over the next one year. The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had set the target to cover one crore households under the `75,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar: Mufti Bijli Yojana Scheme across the country About 25% of the targeted . nationwide beneficiaries are expected to be from Tamil Nadu, sources said. T he scheme was launched by PM Narendra Modi on January 22. According to sources, the MNRE has sent a letter to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) in this regard. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech, said the centre would give 300 units of free power each to one crore households under the Consumers can save `1,495 bimonthly Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech, had said the union government would give 300 units of free power each to one crore households under the scheme. Domestic consumers can save up to `1,495 bimonthly by installing 1 kW rooftop solar unit, officials said. scheme. Domestic consumers can save up to `1,495 bimonthly by installing 1 kW rooftop solar unit, officials said. To meet the target, Tangedco has directed its officials of non- Southern derby: CSK vs RCB in opener 1 The 17th season of Indian Premier League will commence with holders Chennai Super Kings hosting Royal Challengers Bangalore at MA Chidambaram Stadium on March 22 As general election dates have not been announced yet, the BCCI only unveiled the schedule for the first two weeks on Thursday 2 During this period, 21 matches will be played across 10 cities, with each team playing a minimum of three matches and a maximum of five 3 Delhi will not host any matches at their home ground in 1st phase. They play their first two home matches in Vizag conventional energy sources to enrol at least 1,000 households in each section office to reach the target of 25 lakh households. The power utility has 2,837 section offices spread across 12 zones. A senior Tangedco official told TNIE, “Instruction has been given to all Chief Engineers and Superintending Engineers to promote the installation of solar rooftops, particularly among domestic consumers. These solar rooftops would be connected to the grid with bidirectional meters.” The MNRE has simplified the enrolment procedure by launching a national solar rooftop portal. Consumers can apply for a solar rooftop plant and receive subsidies directly into their bank accounts by applying through the portal. Explaining the details about the subsidy scheme, an official said, “The union government offers a subsidy of `30,000 per kilowatt (kW) (for installation) for plant capacities of up to 2 kW, and `78,000 for capacities of 3 kW and above.” P5 Once the dates for the 18th Lok Sabha elections are announced, the Board will review and address any issues pertaining to the schedule of the first two weeks. Subsequently, the BCCI will work in tandem with local authorities to finalise the schedule for the remainder of the season, taking into account the polling dates — BCCI Mekedatu war AIADMK MLAs stage walkout after EPS-minister duel E X P RESS NE W S SER V I C E @ Chennai The Mekedatu dam project proposed by Kar nataka sparked a war of words between the ruling DMK and the opposition AIADMK in the Assembly, with opposition leader Edappadi K Palaniswami accusing the government of demonstrating a casual approach in the issue and voicing his opposition to Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) discussing the proposal. Palaniswami and AIADMK MLAs later staged a walkout from the Assembly . Countering the accusation, Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan said the government was never apathetic to the issue and Karnataka cannot build a dam across Cauvery at Mekedatu without the consent of the lower riparian state. He also ruled out any further talks with Karnataka as the Cauvery Tribunal was fo r m e d t o re s ol ve t h e dispute after several rounds of talks between the two states. Expressing dissatisfaction, Palaniswami said the DMK government should have adopted a resolution condemning the CWMA for allowing a discussion on Mekedatu. continued on p5 AIADMK leader K Palaniswami speaks to reporters after the walkout on Thursday | Express ‘no consent from riparian states’ “Mekedatu project cannot be implemented just because it was forwarded to the CWC. TN water resources secretary has written to Jal Sakthi ministry, forest department, and CWC chairman explaining TN’s stand and pointing out that Karnataka did not get the consent of riparian states,” minister Duraimurugan said. Junta blows up bridges to block rebel advance in Myanmar Y e s h i S e l i @ New Delhi The ethnic war in Myanmar’s Sittwe, where India constructed a port, escalated last week with the military allegedly blasting three bridges connecting the town. The bridges were part of the national infrastructure built by Myanmar itself. Sittwe is under the control of the State Administrative Council (SAC), which is the junta. The Arakan Army, the rebel group, claimed the military blew up three bridges between February 12 and 17, including the main bridge that leads to Sittwe, to block their entry . “SAC controls Sittwe and blasted the main bridge to prevent us from entering the town. All family members of the military commanders and high ranking state administration officials were shifted to Yangon and Thandway by ships, since last week. Sittwe is now in a battle zone. Forces from both sides have taken positions very close to Sittwe, so anything can happen,’’ said a spokesperson of the Arakan Army . India developed a port in Sittwe, which is safe as of now. A week ago, the Arakan Army had told this newspaper that India’s most ambitious project in Myanmar – the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transpor t Project – would be safe if they were in control. However, the situation in Sittwe is fluid. Meanwhile, an Indian army delegation visited Myanmar’s Capital Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday . 4 friends killed in car crash in TN E X P RESS NE W S SER V I C E @ Tiruvannamalai CBI Raid at ex-J&K Guv’s premises in Delhi Satya Pal Malik’s house and 29 other locations were searched in connection with the alleged corruption in the C2,200 cr Kiru Hydropower project. CBI recovered cash, FDs, property documents, digital evidence | P9 Four friends died in a road accident on Tiruvannamalai-Tindivanam National Highway (NH-77) when their car rammed a tractor from behind near Somasipadi Pudhur village in Tiruvannamalai district early on Thursday . The victims were identified as H Azhagan (32) of Kasbakaranai and K Pandian (27) of Kadaladikulam, both from Villupuram district, Prakash (34) of Kaspa in Vellore district, and Chiranjeevi (40) of Pallipattu in Tiruvallur district. They were all employees of a private pharmacy retailer but were working at different locations. The car rear-ended the tractor near Somasipadi Pudhur village in Tiruvannamalai The colleagues were en route to the wedding of Pandian’s sister, Kalaiselvi, scheduled on Thursday at Kadaladikulam village. The incident occurred early on Thursday when Pandian was returning to Villupuram in a car (with Andhra Pradesh number plate) after picking up his friends who had arrived in Tiruvannamalai from their work locations. Around 2.45 am, Prakash, who was behind the wheel, failed to notice the tractor moving in front the car and rear-ended it. While Azhagan, Pandian, and Prakash died on the spot, Chiranjeevi succumbed to his injuries when he was being taken to hospital on an ambulance. P5 Calcutta HC order Secular roar? Big cats to get new names P r a n a b M o n d a l @ Kolkata A naming dispute of a ‘couple’ that became a national talking point ended up in the Calcutta High Court on Thursday directing the West Bengal government to change their names. Trouble began after people got to know the names of two big cats, housed in the same enclosure at the Bengal Safari Park in Siliguri as part of an animal exchange programme from Tripura, as ‘Akbar’ and ‘Sita’. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad moved the court demanding the name change of the lioness saying it was disrespectful to Hindus. Justice Saugata Bhattacharya asked the state government’s lawyer whether he would name his own pet after a Hindu God or a Muslim Prophet. “Will you yourself name your own pet after some Hindu God or Muslim Prophet? I think, if any of us would have been the authority none , of us would have Lion Akbar Govt consents Additional advocate general Debjyoti Choudhary assured that the lions would get new names but urged the court to dismiss the petition. But the court ordered the VHP’s plea be classified as a PIL Lioness Sita named them as Akbar and Sita. Can anyone of us think of naming an animal after Rabindranath Tagore?” he wondered. Justice Bhattacharya also advised changing the name of lion Akbar on his own though it was not sought by the VHP. “Sita is worshipped by a larger section of this country. I also oppose naming the lion after Akbar. He was an efficient, successful and secular Mughal Emperor,” he observed. “You are a welfare and secular state. Why should you draw controversy,” he asked. The government said the naming was done by the Tripura zoo authorities in 2016 and 2018 before their transfer to Bengal.
Express Network Private Limited publishes thirty three E-paper editions of The New Indian Express newspaper , thirty two E-paper editions of Dinamani, one E-paper edition of The Morning Standard, one E-paper edition of Malayalam Vaarika magazine and one E-paper edition of the Indulge - The Morning Standard, Kolkatta.